Back to the grid. I am doing my research for my film that I have written about on here. It gets hard sometime. I am a vet. I know a lot of my brothers and sisters suffer. Especially those who did directly or indirectly do the killing. It can be a motherfucker. Plain and simple. And it hurts. The film I am doing is a lot about pain and painful things; however, they things that need to be discussed. We as a country tend ignore issues like combat vets issues and the sex trade. It makes people uncomfortable when we talk about them. Well guess what America, that is America, regardless if you choose to except it or not. And trust me, these things will fester and grow. And there will be a point where we will have to pay more than we had too.

What kind of filmmaker do you want to be? You can be a fluffy filmmaker that doesn’t take on any real subject. Tampa is full of them. We are the city of fluff. If you are into one dimensional film, Tampa is where you want to be. But then there are a few people who are trying to say something and using film as a medium to say it. I have a lot to say and find I have many tools of saying them, whether it be film, a series, a painting, theater or whatever is at my disposal . But I’m out there using them, and so should you.

What kind of filmmaker or artist, do you want to be? Do you have things you want to say and discuss. For me, art, film, and whatnot is just tools for me to communicate things I want to talk about. The series I am developing is about topics I want dive into and explore subjects that I find interesting and relative, and also showcase good music and talented artist. Go do the same. There are so many ways to express yourself and so many ways to get it out there in front of people. that you really have no excuse not be working on something. I know I have don’t.

In case you haven’t heard I am doing a full length documentary on South Sudan. This project fell into my lap about a month, month and a half ago. A friend of mine has been working on something called the Jonglei Peace Initiative which had ended years of ethnic civil war in the state of Jonglei, South Sudan and will bring development to the region and a plan for the rest of South Sudan. JPI was started by the Diaspora of South Sudan who live here in the United States and Canada. These men are also known as the Lost Boys of South Sudan and much has been written about them as well as a documentary done on them.

My documentary will cover many topics: JPI, which is a very important issue to South Sudan’s future, the tensions between South Sudan and Sudan, which could lead to full scale war, women’s right, freedom if the press, development and education, the rebel leader David Yau Yau and his tyranny and the how does a young democracy survive and grow. I am sure there is more to talk about. Through my research I have become very interested in this project. I and my crew get to document the history of a young country as it too experiments with democratic rule.

The first leg if this journey is to get to Washington D.C. at the end of March for a conference that is being held with the leaders of JPI and the Vice President of South Sudan. Then we have to plan our first trip to South Sudan. I am now looking to get this funded. That is the big part now, getting it funded. Where that is going to come from I do not know but I am confident it will come.

My crew; I do have one. I have Brandon Hyde as our Cinematographer, Tony Tartaglia as our sound guy and William, Billy, Wright as our go to guy for whatever it is we need at that moment. Tony, Billy and myself have served in the Army. Tony was in Vietnam, Billy in Iraq and me in the 82nd Airborne. So we have that covered.

I will be writing a lot about this documentary and would love here hear what you have to say and please spread the word. We need to bring awareness of this film and I need your help to do that. Thanks

Last Night a colleague of mine, Ron Borders asked me “Instead of doing 5 shorts why not just do a feature?” Which is a valid question, which deserves good answer. First off I have never been to film school, so I do not have the experience of producing and making films that one who went to film school has. For me it has all been OJT, reading and a lot of listening. So for me, this is like a year of film school with 5 thesis projects plus a full length documentary on South Sudan. I will make a lot of mistakes, learn a lot and at the end have a body of work to go off of. So with that I will have a body of work that I can say to an investor “Here is what I have done, these are the awards I have gotten and yes I seem to know what I am doing. Please trust me with your money.” Also I have to think 5, 10 years down the road. What I mean is that with this year of short films it is a building block to the next level, which if you know me is all the above. I want to produce and direct in whatever medium I can, meaning Film, TV, Web, Theater, Graphic Novel or in whatever it is.

Yes I have bitten off more than you or I can chew, but I do it knowing I can do it somehow. I have a company I know I can grow. I have a vision for what I want kinds of material I want to produce and what kinds of people I want to work with. I also want to be able to help other artist and filmmakers. Right now I am in Tampa and I want to help change the culture of film into something that is well respected and received. So yes this is the year of short films but it is with a purpose.

Really good news, Vimeo is going to make available to it upgraded members a way to make money off of their content. In a short while you can have a tip jar on your page that will allow people to donate money and soon after that they will able to charge for your content. This is a great new platform to monetize your work.